Hydraulic reset motor



Jan. 23, 1 968 A. J. WELLS HYDRAULIC RESET MOTOR Filed Oct. 21. 1966 I N VEX'I "OR. ARTHUR J. WELLS ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) 3,365,101 HYDRAULIC RESET MGTOR Arthur J. Wells, Bloomfield, Conn., assignor to Veeder Industries 1110., Hartford, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Oct. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 588,424 9 Claims. (Cl. 22233) The present invention generally relates to register reset mechanisms for resetting the register conventionally empolyed in fuel dispensing equipment and is more particularly concerned with a new and improved hydraulic reset motor for a register reset mechanism.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor for fuel dispensing equipment which utilizes the fuel flow during the delivery of fuel for resetting the register and which may be employed with the dispensing equipment without requiring additional fuel lines.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor of the type described which may be connected in the fuel line of the dispensing equipment in series with the usual fuel pump and fuel dispensing nozzle employed in such equipment.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor having particular utility with fuel dispensing equipment having a remotely installed fuel pump. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor of the type described which avoids the usual requirement for a return line to the low pressure side of the fuel pump.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor which is adapted for loading a reset spring during the delivery of a predetermined minimum quantity of fuel.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydraulic reset motor which may be conveniently and economically installed for powering the usual register reset mechanism.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic illustration of a fuel dispensing system utilizing an embodiment of a hydraulic reset motor of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal view, partly broken away and partly in section, of the hydraulic reset motor.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, a fuel dispensing system is depicted in FIG. 1 having a remote fuel pump 8 for delivering fuel under pressure from a remote storage tank or reservoir 10 through a primary fuel conduit 14 to a secondary fuel conduit 16 which provides for delivering fuel to an individual fuel dispensing unit or pump shown having the usual fuel meter 19 and fuel dispensing nozzle 20. The secondary fuel line 16 is shown provided with a suitable valve 18 for selectively controlling the flow of fuel to the fuel nozzle 20, and in a conventional manner the meter 19 is connected for driving a suitable variator 21 and a suitable register 22 having volume and cost counters 23, 24 for registering the volume and cost of each fuel delivery and reset mechanism for resetting the counters between deliveries.

In accordance with the present invention the reset mechanism comprises a hydraulic reset motor, generally designated by the numeral 26, which is connected in the secondary fuel line 16 in series with the pump 8, valve 18, meter 19, and the nozzle 20.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2 of the drawing, the hydraulic reset motor 26 is shown comprising a multipart housing 30 with upper and lower housing members 34, 36 and with apertured mounting flanges 38 for mounting the motor. The upper housing member 34 has a threaded inlet port 40 which provides for connecting an inlet compartment 42 of the housing 30 to the upstream portion of the fuel conduit 16 and a threaded outlet port 44 which provides for connecting an outlet compartment 46 of the housing 30 to the downstream portion of the fuel conduit 16.

The inlet and outlet compartments 42, 46 are connected by intermediate passages 50 and thereby together form a bypass passage for permitting the fuel to flow directly from the inlet port to the outlet port of the motor without undue restriction of the fuel flow. A reciprocable bypass valve 54 having a valve set 52 is provided for selectively controlling the fuel flow from the inlet compartment 42 to the outlet compartment '46. The valve 54 has a valve stem 56 reciprocably supported within spaced bushings 58 mounted within aligned bores in the upper housing member 34, and the outer end of a pivotal lever 60 is received between the annular flanges of a collar 62 mounted on the valve stem 56 for opening and closing the valve. The lever 60 is pivotally mounted on a post or pivot pin 63, and a control lever 64 also pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 63 is provided for pivotal operation of the lever 60 with an overcenter acting tension spring 65 connected between the levers 6G, 64. Accordingly, by pivoting the control lever 64 upwardly the valve 54 is adapted to be opened and by pivoting the control lever 64 downwardly the valve 54 is adapted to be closed. Also, the overcenter action of the tension spring 65 provides for snap actuation of the valve 54 to its open and closed positions.

The control lever 64 is operated by a hydraulic actuator or hydraulic cylinder 68 which comprises a cylinder or bore 70 within the lower housing 36 having its upper end in communication with the outlet compartment 46 and a piston 72 reciprocable in the bore 70. The piston 72 has a piston rod 74 reciprocable within a depending tubular portion 76 of the lower housing 36 coaxial with the bore 76. The piston 72 has a suitable seal 80 held in place by a cover plate 32 fastened to the piston body 84. The top cover plate 82 has a small central opening 86 therein in alignment with an axial bore 88 of greater diameter provided in the piston body 84 and the piston rod 74 and having a length approximately equal to but less than the stroke of the piston between its fully extended position shown in FIG. 2 and its fully retracted position, not shown.

A valve operating rod 90 received within the bore 88 and opening 86 and pivotally connected to the control lever 64 is provided for opening and closing the valve 54 in accordance with the reciprocable operation of the piston 72. The piston rod 74 is adapted to engage the lower end of the rod 90 for actuating the rod 90 upwardly and to open the valve 54 approximately as the piston reaches its fully extended position shown in FIG. 2. In order to close the valve a collar 94 axially adjustable on the rod 90 and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the open ing 86 in the cover plate 82 is provided for actuation by the cover plate 82 for closing the valve 54 approximately as the piston reaches its fully withdrawn position.

A passage 11%} is provided for connecting the inlet oompartment 42 and the lower end of the piston cylinder 70. A ball check valve 112 comprising a retaining sleeve 1114, a ball 116, and a compression spring 118 is mounted within the passage for permitting substantially unrestricted fuel flow from the inlet compartment 42 through the passage 110 to the cylinder 70 and for restricting flow in the opposite direction. Bleed openings or slots 120 are however provided in the check valve retaining sleeve 114 for permitting fuel flow from the cylinder 70 to the inlet compartment 42 at a restricted controlled rate.

The piston 72 is shown employed for rotating a reset drive shaft 121 in the counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, for loading a reset or torsion spring 123 as the piston is hydraulically actuated from its withdrawn to its fully extended position. For this purpose the piston rod 74 is formed with rack teeth 122 which mesh with a pinion 124 mounted on the reset drive shaft 121.

FIG. 2 depicts the hydraulic reset motor in its loaded condition, as for example after a fuel delivery has been made and before the register has been reset with the loaded reset spring 123. To reset the register the reset spring 123 is suitably controlled as, for example, with a reset control mechanism of the type described in my copending application Ser. No. 480,590 filed Aug. 18, 1965, and entitled Counter Reset Operating Mechanism.

It can be seen that as the reset drive shaft 121 is rotated by the reset spring 123 in the clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, to reset or zer-oize the register 22, the pinion 124 provides for withdrawing the piston 72 downwardly and concomitantly to force the fuel on the underside of the piston 72 through the bleed openings 120, inlet compartment 42, passages 50, and the outlet compartment 46 to the upper end of the cylinder 70. Accordingly, the piston functions as a hydraulic damping device for damping the resetting operation and the usual dashpot employed for such purposes may therefore be eliminated.

In the shown embodiment the flow of fuel from the underside of the piston 72 to the opposite side thereof is enhanced by the increasing volumetric capacity of the hydraulic motor resulting from the decreasing hydraulic displacement of the piston rod as the piston rod is withdrawn. Thus, the fuel pressure in the fuel conduit 16 provides for assisting the downward movement of the piston and therefore for assisting the reset spring in resetting the register.

As the piston approaches the bottom of the cylinder 70 the cover plate 82 engages the collar 94 on the rod 90 to close the bypass valve 54 and thus to prevent direct fuel flow through the bypass passage. Also, upon completion of the resetting operation the valve 18 is conventionally automatically opened. Accordingly, the nozzle 20 may be operated to deliver fuel whereupon the fuel flows through the ball check valve 112 and the passage 110 to the cylinder 70 to actuate the piston 72 upwardly and to thereby rewind or reload the reset spring 123. Also, as the piston is hydraulically actuated upwardly to its fully extended position to load the reset spring a relatively small volume of fuel equal to the displacement of the piston 72 is dispensed from the nozzle 20.

As the piston approaches its fully extended position where it is suitably held by the reset control mechanism, the bypass valve 54 is opened to permit the fuel to flow directly via the bypass passage to the nozzle 20.

Thus, it can be seen from the foregoing description that the hydraulic reset motor of the present invention provides for eliminating the usual return line from the hydraulic motor to the low pressure side of the fuel pump. Additionally, the reset motor provides an in-line hydraulic mechanism for directly loading a reset spring during an initial small delivery of fuel to provide suiticient energy for resetting the register before a succeeding delivery. Futher, the hydraulic reset motor provides for employing the fuel line pressure not only to store energy during the delivery but to assist the reset spring in resetting the register after the delivery is completed.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above-described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination with fluid dispensing apparatus having a fluid source, a fluid dispensing unit, a pump for delivering fluid under pressure from the source to the dispensing unit and a resettable register for registering the amount of fluid delivered, a hydraulic reset motor for resetting the register connected in series with the fluid dis pens-ating unit comprising an inlet, an outlet, a bypass passage connecting the outlet and inlet, bypass valve means for selectively controlling the flow of fluid through the bypass passage, an operating cylinder having its opposite ends connected to the inlet and outlet in parallel with the bypass passage, and a piston in the operating cylinder adapted to be hydraulically actuated from a withdrawn to an extended position by fluid from the inlet, and bypass valve operating means operable to open the bypass valve 'as the piston is actuated to its extended position and for closing the bypass valve as the piston is returned to its withdrawn position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the hydraulic reset motor further comprises a reset spring, and means for loading the reset spring with the piston as it is hydraulically actuated to its extended position and for returning the piston to its withdrawn position with the reset spring as it is unloaded to reset the register.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the piston has piston rod means with hydraulic displacement which decreases as the piston is returned to its withdrawn position.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the hydraulic reset motor comprises fluid control means for permitting substantially unrestricted flow of fluid from the inlet to the cylinder and for restricting the flow of fluid in the reverse direction.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the fluid control means comprises one-way check valve means for permitting said substantially unrestricted flow of fluid from the inlet to the cylinder.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein the hydraulic motor comprises flow restriction means for providing restricted flow between opposite ends of the cylinder as the piston is returned to its withdrawn position.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein the bypass valve operating means provides for snap action of the valve to open and closed positions.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the bypass valve is mounted for reciprocable movement between its open and closed positions and wherein the valve operating means comprises a first pivotally mounted lever connected for reciprocating the valve, a second pivotally mounted lever, and a spring means connecting the levers and adapted to pivot the first lever in opposite pivotal di rections as the second lever is pivoted in opposite pivotal directions, and actuating means for actuating the second lever in opposite pivotal directions as the piston is reciprocated to its extended and withdrawn positions respectively.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein the actuating means comprises a rod connected to the second lever, an axially extending bore in the piston receiving the rod, and means for actuating the rod in opposite axial directions as the piston is reciprocated to its extended and withdrawn positions respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH FLUID DISPENSING APPARATUS HAVING A FLUID SOURCE, A FLUID DISPENSING UNIT, A PUMP FOR DELIVERING FLUID UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE SOURCE TO THE DISPENSING UNIT AND A RESETTABLE REGISTER FOR REGISTERING THE AMOUNT OF FLUID DELIVERED, A HYDRAULIC RESET MOTOR FOR RESETTING THE REGISTER CONNECTED IN SERIES WITH THE FLUID DISPENSATING UNIT COMPRISING AN INLET, AN OUTLET, A BYPASS PASSAGE CONNECTING THE OUTLET AND INLET, BYPASS VALVE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF FLUID THROUGH THE BYPASS PASSAGE, AN OPERATING CYLINDER HAVING ITS OPPOSITE ENDS CONNECTED TO THE INLET AND OUTLET IN PARALLEL WITH THE BYPASS PASSAGE, AND A PISTON IN THE OPERATING CYLINDER ADAPTED TO BE HYDRAULICALLY ACTUATED FROM A WITHDRAWN TO AN EXTENDING POSITION BY FLUID FROM THE INLET, AND BYPASS VALVE OPERATING MEANS OPERABLE TO OPEN THE BYPASS VALVE AS THE PISTON IS ACTUATED TO ITS EXTENDED POSITION AND FOR CLOSING THE BYPASS VALVE AS THE PISTON IS RETURNED TO ITS WITHDRAWN POSITION. 